Black Swan Make -up Look ~ All Budget Beauty Products

This is the look I created for Halloween last year, and I think its such a fun easy look which looks really effective if you have any fancy dress events to go to. :)

What do you need? -

A pale foundation or white face paint (I used Miss Sporty Stay Matte in Ivory)

A Black liquid liner (I used collection 2000 Black liquid liner)

A white and a black pencil eyeliner (I picked up both from MUA for a pound each)

A grey toned contour colour (I used a grey eyeshadow)

A white highligher (I used 'Golden Lights' from Make Up Revolution which was a little too golden but it worked)

Mascara (Any will do)

Fake Lashes (f you want)

Dark red lipstick (I used 17's Stay Pout in 'Rule Breaker' which is amazing)

A small eyeshadow brush. (I used one from W7 which you can see in my 'Budget Brushes' post)

This look is really easy. I wish I had taken photos throughout but honestly, it's meant to look feathery and messy, so a little smudgi-ness just adds to the whole look.

Here goes- I promise you it doesn't use any complicated techniques, just a bit of blending and concentration. :)

1. Apply foundation/ white face paint allover the skin. I used my fingers and applied two coats to make sure it was super opaque and pale. Don't do concealer as the eye look is definitely going to produce a lot of fall out.

 2. 

Do you love this sketch. I do.

So take your black pencil eyeliner and roughly sketch out this shape around your eye. The top line should run along the top of your eyebrow, and the bottom should be just slightly under your eyelid.

3.Continuning with your black pencil eyeliner, go ahead and fill in bits which are going to stay black. Fill in from your bottom line right up to your bottom eyelid. Also fill in the whole of your top eyelid and your eyebrows.  Thicken up the edge of the shape all the way around, but leave the outer edge of the shape thin and rough for the minute.

Still with the same eyeliner (maybe sharpen it at this point), create a design within your outer edges. I created points outwards from my eyelid, all heading towards my hairline. Fill them in with black pencil eyeliner. Your eyes should look something like this:

4. Take your white pencil eyeliner and fill in all of the gaps between the black lines with white. Because they are both pencil this might start looking slightly smudgey, but that's ok.

5. When everything is covered in black and white pencil eyeliner, have a look at the whole design and make sure you are happy with it before you go in with a more intense black eyeliner. When you are happy, take your black liquid liner and just intensify the black areas. Also use this to bring all the lines to a point on the outer edges, so it looks like feathers. Use the same technique around the inner corner and down the nose to create really pointed edges.

Your eyes should be looking a little something like this. If you have an intense white eyeshadow, go in to the white areas and intensify them

6. Line your waterline and tightline with black eyeliner, and apply mascara. Lashes are optional, but I think they really add to the intensity of the look.

7. Tidy up any fall out with some concealer or white face paint.

8.  To finish the face, take an ashy contour shade and hollow out the cheekbones, creating a harsh angle. Add highlight to the tops of the cheekbones.

9. For the lips, line with the black pencil eyeliner ( I know, stick with me), and then use a brush or the lipstick straight from the bullet to apply to the rest of the lip. Smudge the eyeliner into the lipstick to create a really intense outer edge and a dark red inner colour.

There you have it! A simple way to do the make up from Black Swan, you could even switch it up with a dark base and a white feathered eye which would look amazing.

Hope this was useful, thanks for reading,

 Lou x

Face of the Day ~ 15 minute make- up

Everyone has those mornings when you have to get up and out really quickly, but you don't want to scare the world with your naked stressed face (I don't have the best skin, especially at the moment), so you need a make- up routine which is quick and failsafe, and this is mine. Enjoy :)

So that's my face up above- (I'm really not the best at selfies), and here is everything which is AWN MA FACE. It looks complicated, but it's really not. You might wonder why I have three concealers, but all will be explained...

Face

(Top to bottom: Rimmel Foundation, Collection concealer, Maybelline Concealer, Collection cover stick- see below for more details)

So, I think it's really important for bad- skin days or mornings when you don't have much time, to take more time over skin care than make up. I started my morning with an ex-foliating pad from Nip and Fab, then the Effaclar Duo from Roche Posay to try and calm my skin down, and then some moisturiser. I used Olay's Anti Wrinkle 2 in 1 Instant Hydration and Radiant Glow which is lovely and fresh.

Once your skin is looking a bit more perky and nourished, I would normally go ahead and apply primer. I really recommend the Rimmel Lasting Perfection Primer if you need your make up to last the day. I didn't have time this morning (/ I forgot), so I just went right ahead with my foundation, which I applied with my fingers because I didn't have time to buff it in with a brush. I used Rimmel's Lasting Finish Nude in Porcelain, and just applied a thin layer all over. Ma face. This is a really nice foundation in general- very light and fresh looking- and I think it's best to go for a lighter coverage foundation if you don't have much time in the morning. I then went in with my Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair over my blemishes and around my nose. I did use a brush for this, and buffed it in to make sure it was nice and even across my skin. I used the Maybelline Fit Me concealer in 15 on my eyelids and under my eyes to prime for eye make up and to conceal my under eye circles. (This is where I needed a third concealer because my under eye circles were serious- I went over with the Collection Cover Stick in 01 and pressed that in).

Boring bit over. 

Now, colour in your cheeks is something you need if you are in a rush, or you need to look more awake. I used my Make Up Revolution Blushing Heart in Peachy Pink Kisses which is so shimmery and illuminating that you don't need to faff around with a highlighter.

Eyes 

I kept the eyes super easy and super neutral.

First, I filled in my eyebrows with my Kiko eyeshadows, in 237 and 239 mixed together to get a good shade. It would definitely be better to use an eyebrow pencil because it is quicker, but I'm currently between eyebrow pencils because I can't find a good blonde one. I then brushed my brows through with the Natural Collection Clear Mascara which is such a cheap version of a brow gel, and it's really good. Brows done and onto eyes.

The star of the show has to be the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Creamy Beige.I applied this allover the lid with my finger tip, just smudging it in to make sure it's even. It literally takes 10 seconds to get a layer of colour. This isn't what I would call beige, it's definitely slightly darker, but it's a great base colour. 

At this point, you have two options. Go darker, and find a dark shade to quickly smudge through the crease. OR (as i did), find a lighter shade to press over the centre of the lid to brighten the eye up. I used a Kiko eyeshadow in 236 which is a shimmery peachy/brown/nude. 

Liquid eyeliner is something you shouldn't attempt if you are in a rush, unless you can do it quickly, in which case, I bow down to your superiority. I just smudged a thin line of dark eyeshadow- I used Undone from the Naked 2 Basics palette, but you can use any dark brown or black colour- along the lash line to make the whole look more defined. 

Mascara is also hard to do quickly. I will normally do at least two coats of mascara because my lashes just don't hold up with just one coat, as you can see here. I used the 17 Va Va Voom Mascara in Black, which is the BEST mascara. You need to try it.

Lips

Having lipstick on immediately makes you look more put-together and a little fresher. Wack on some lipbalm if you really have no time, but if you have 5 seconds, go for a sheer wash of colour which is easy to apply and isn't too bold. I went for  a sheer peach lipstick from the Body Shop- Colour Crush in 315. Really easy and fresh looking, perfect for spring.

Powder is optional at  this point. I'm not a huge powder fan, I find it always makes me look cakey - and believe me I've tried applying it in every single way- but i actually did put a little bit of the Rimmel Stay Matte in Transparent on my under-eye concealer to make it stay- put.

So, I hope you enjoyed this fifteen minute make up for a really natural easy look.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x